SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS ON GOVERNMENTS AND CITIZENS TO ACT TO MAKE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES BETTER PLACES TO LIVE
Press Release
SG/SM/6718
OBV/58
SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS ON GOVERNMENTS AND CITIZENS TO ACT TO MAKE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES BETTER PLACES TO LIVE
19980924 On Occasion of World Habitat Day, Kofi Annan Stresses 'Crime Prevention is Everyone's Responsibility'Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the occasion of World Habitat Day to be observed on 5 October:
Governments and local authorities around the world are facing an increasingly daunting challenge: how to make their cities safe from crime and violence. With urban violence around the world estimated to have nearly doubled in the last 20 years, it is appropriate that World Habitat Day in 1998 should focus on the theme of "Safer Cities".
Cities are not inherently violent, and many have dealt successfully with the scourge of crime and violence. But, cities do seem to be breeding grounds for a wide range of lawless acts. The reasons vary, but key factors include unemployment; the proliferation and easy availability of guns; deteriorating urban environments; deprivation of basic services; a lack of social cohesion among uprooted rural-to-urban migrants; inequities between rich and poor; shortcomings in police and justice systems; a breakdown of traditional value systems; and, in a more general sense, the anonymity and individualism common to places where large numbers of people coexist in a small space.
Prevention strategies addressing the root causes of urban crime hold considerable promise. These tend to involve partnerships among governments, city authorities, civil society organizations and residents themselves. Cities that are safe for all people will, in turn, make the whole world a safer place, for fear of crime and violence imprisons people in their homes and makes the realization of all other human rights more difficult to achieve. Crime prevention is everyone's responsibility. I urge all Member States, local governments and citizens of cities around the world to mark World Habitat Day this year by taking action to make their cities and communities safer and better places to live.
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